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O’NBLL  UBRARV 
BOSTON  COLLEGE 


PREFACE. 


Brook  Farm  was  not  the  only  Socialist  experi¬ 
ment  at  the  time  of  its  establishment,  though  much 
the  most  important  one  in  every  respect.  The  highest 
talent  ot  the  country  was  represented  there.  It  went 
into  operation  in  1841.  Another  was  formed  at 
Fruitlands  in  Harvard,  Mass.,  with  A.  Bronson  Alcott 
at  the  head  ;  another  at  Hopedale  in  Milford,  with 
Adin  Ballou  as  leader.  There  was  one  in  New  Jer¬ 
sey,  also. 


Brook  Farm. 


By  ANNIE  M.  SALISBURY. 


“The  full  history  of  Brook  Farm  can  only  be 
written  by  one  who  belonged  to  it  and  shared  its 
secret,  and  it  doubtless  would  have  been  written  be¬ 
fore  this  had  the  materials  been  more  solid.  Aspir¬ 
ations  have  no  history.” 

Brook  Farm  Community,  as  it  has  erroneously 
been  called,  was  not,  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  word, 
a  Community — George  Ripley,  the  leading  spirit, 
disclaims  the  appellation.  The  association  was  formed 
by  the  most  highly  intellectual  and  morally  noblest 
men  and  women  of  New’  England,  to  enable  them  to 
live  a  life  freer  from  the  “  trammels  of  civilization,” 
as  they  would  express  it ;  or,  as  we  should  say,  more 
free  from  the  tyranny  of  social  life  with  its  senseless 
despotism. 

Fifty  years  ago  a  Boston  Unitarian  pastor  was 
looked  upon  as  a  beacon  light  intellectually,  as  also 


6 


the  highest  type  in  purity  of  life  and  motive  :  but 
feeling  that  there  was  much  sham  in  the  pulpit, 
George  Ripley  was  said  to  have  made  the  remark 
that  he  “  could  pray  by  the  job  no  longer.”  Ido 
not  vouch  for  the  truth  of  it.  German  Transcenden¬ 
talism  (if  anyone  happens  to  know  what  that  may 
mean)  was  rife  in  Boston  at  that  time,  too.  I  quote 
from  O.  B.  Frothingham’s  works  :  “  It  must  be  re¬ 

membered  that  projedls  of  radical  social  reform  were 
in  the  air  at  this  time.  Carlyle  was  thundering 
against  shams  in  religion  and  politics ;  Dickens  was 
showing  up  the  abuses,  cruelties  and  iniquities  of  the 

established  order  ;  Kingsley  was  stirring  the  caldron 

. 

of  social  discontent.  *  *  *  Seeds  were  ripening 

in  France  as  well  as  in  England,  in  fact  all  over  Eur¬ 
ope,  for  the  great  revolt  of  1848.  The  influence  of 
the  new  ideas  was  felt  in  the  United  States.  We  have 
the  testimony  of  James  Martineau  to  the  fact  that 
Dr.  Channing  for  a  time  fell  under  the  fascination  of 
some  of  the  speculative  writers  *  *  *  who  held 

forth  the  promise  of  a  golden  age  for  society.  Rous¬ 
seau  and  others  entertained  the  idea  of  going  to 
South  America  to  plant  an  ideal  society.  Similar 
plans  were  eagerly  discussed  among  the  friends  of 
progress  in  Boston.” 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ripley  were  prominent  as  talkers 
and  eager  as  listeners.  Mrs.  Ripley  was  a  woman  of 
burning  enthusiasm,  warm  feeling,  and  passionate 
will.  Theodore  Parker  made  the  following  entry  in 
his  journal :  “Mrs.  Ripley  gave  me  a  tactic  rebuke 
for  not  shrieking  at  wrongs,  and  spoke  of  the  danger 
of  losing  our  humanity  in  abstractions.”  Dr.  Chan- 
ning  had  said  in  a  letter  to  Rev.  Ad  in  Ballou,  dated 
Feb.  27,  1841,  two  months  before  the  beginning  of 
Brook  Farm,  T  have  for  a  very  long  time  dreamed 
of  an  association  in  which  the  members,  instead  of 
preying  on  one  another,  and  seeking  to  put  each 
other  down  after  the  fashion  of  this  world,  should  live 
together  as  brothers,  seeking  one  another’s  elevation 
and  spiritual  growth.”  That  this  spirit  was  carried 
out  at  Brook  Farm  was  evident  to  all  who  entered 
into  the  life  there.  “Though  the  institution  was  far 
from  being  religious  in  spiritual  purpose,”  their  strong 
faith  in  the  “divinity  of  impulse,”  as  Frothingham 
has  expressed  it,  could  not  but  be  misleading  when 
carried  to  the  extent  to  which  it  was  there.  Even 
the  German  Transcendentalist  was  not  perfect,  ex¬ 
cept,  perhaps,  in  his  own  eyes.  Their  confidence  in 
individual  freedom  might  have  been  dangerous,  but 
it  was  only  considered  “freedom  to  become  wise  and 


8 


good,  simple  and  self-sacrificing,  gentle  and  kind'.” 

There  was  no  theological  creed,  no  ecclesiastical 
form,  no  inquisition  into  opinions,  no  avowed  re¬ 
liance  on  superhuman  aid.  The  thoughts  of  all  were 
heartily  respedled,  and  while  some  listened  with 
sympathy  to  Theodore  Parker,  others  went  to  church 
nowhere  or  sought  the  privileges  of  their  own  com¬ 
munion.  By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  people  went 
to  church  nowhere.  It  was  very  decidedly  not  popu¬ 
lar  there  to  go  to  church  !  It  savored  too  strongly  of 
bondage  to  civilization  !  “It  has  been  well  said  that 
the  aim  of  the  association  was  practical,  not  theoreti¬ 
cal,  not  transcendental,  not  intellectual ;  in  the  same 
breath  it  must  be  added  that  it  was  in  a  high  sense 
spiritual ;  that  it  was  practical  because  it  was  spiri¬ 
tual  ;  that  while  it  aimed  at  the  physical  and  mental 
elevation  of  the  poorer  classes,  it  did  so  because  it 
believed  in  their  natural  capacity  for  elevation  as 
children  of  God.  *  *  *  More  than  this,  they 

felt  themselves  to  be  Christians.  The  name  of  Jesus 
was  always  spoken  with  earnest  reverence.” 

In  1841,  the  earliest  articles  of  association  were 
subscribed  to  by  George  Ripley,  Nathaniel  Haw¬ 
thorne,  Minot  Pratt,  Charles  A.  Dana,  William  B. 
Allen,  Sophia  W.  Ripley,  Maria  T.  Pratt,  Sarah  F. 


9 


Stearns,  Marianne  Ripley,  Charles  O.  Whitmore. 

Following  are  a  few  of  the  leading  articles  : 

Articles  of  Association  made  and  executed 
this  twenty-ninth  day  of  September,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-one,  by 
and  between  the  several  persons  and  their 
assigns,  who  have  given  their  signature  to 
this  instrument,  and  by  it  associated  them¬ 
selves  together  for  the  purpose  and  objects 
hereinafter  set  forth  : 

Article  I.  The  name  and  style  of  this 
Association  shall  be  The  Subscribers  to  the 
Brook  Farm  Institute  of  Agriculture  and 
Education  ;  and  all  persons  who  shall  hold 
one  or  more  shares  of  the  stock  of  the 
Association  shall  be  members,  and  every 
member  shall  be  entitled  to  one  vote  on  all 
matters  relating  to  the  funds  of  the  Asso¬ 
ciation. 

Article  II.  The  objedl  of  the  Associa¬ 
tion  is  to  purchase  such  estates  as  may  be 
required  lor  the  establishment  and  contin¬ 
uance  of  an  agricultural,  literary  and  scien¬ 
tific  school  or  college ;  to  provide  such 
lands  and  houses,  animals,  libraries  and 
apparatus  as  may  be  found  expedient  or 
advantageous  to  the  main  purpose  of  the 
Association. 


Article  III.  The  whole  property  of  the 
Association,  real  and  personal,  shall  be 
vested  in  and  held  by  four  trustees  to  be 
elected  annually  by  the  Association. 

The  site  of  Brook  Farm  was  a  pleasant  one,  not 
far  from  Theodore  Parker’s  meeting-house,  on  Centre 
street,  and  in  close  vicinity  to  some  of  the  most 
wealthy,  capable  and  zealous  friends  of  the  enterprise. 
It  was  charmingly  diversified  with  hill  and  hollow, 

•  meadow  and  upland.  It  possessed,  moreover,  his¬ 
torical  associations  which  were  interesting  to  its  new 
occupants.  Here  the  “apostle”  Elliot  preached  to 
the  Indians, — his  grave  was  hard  by.  The  birth¬ 
place  was  not  far  distant  of  General  Warren,  of  Rev¬ 
olutionary  fame.  The  spot  seemed  particularly 
appropriate  to  the  use  it  was  now  set  apart  for. 
Later  experiences  showed  its  unfitness  for  lucrative 
tillage,  but  for  an  institution  of  education,  a  semi- 
sesthetic,  humane  undertaking  nothing  could  be  bet¬ 
ter.  In  a  letter  to  Emerson,  Mr.  Ripley  says,  “I 
recolledl  you  said  if  you  were  sure  of  compeers  of  the 
right  stamp  you  might  embark  yourself  in  the  adven¬ 
ture.  As  to  this,  let  me  suggest  the  inquiry  whether 
our  Association  should  not  be  composed  of  various 
classes  of  men.  If  we  have  friends  whom  we  love 


and  who  love  us,  1  think  we  should  be  content  to 
join  with  others  with  whom  our  personal  sympathy  is 
not  strong,  but  whose  general  ideas  coincide  with 
ours  and  whose  gifts  and  abilities  would  make  their 
services  important.  For  instance,  I  should  like  to 
have  a  good  washerwoman  in  my  parish,  admitted 
into  the  plot  !  She  is  certainly  not  a  Minerva  or  a 
Venus,  but  we  might  educate  her  two  children  to 
wisdom  and  varied  accomplishments,  who  otherwise 
will  be  doomed  to  drudge  through  life.  The  same 
is  true  of  some  farmers  and  mechanics  whom  we 
should  like  with  us.” 

This  letter  shows  the  truly  philanthropic  spirit 
which  characterized  the  founders  of  Brook  Farm 
Association, — the  wholly  unselfish  idea  they  were 
trying  to  carry  out.  In  another  letter  to  Emerson, 
after  giving  an  account  of  the  plans  of  the  Associa¬ 
tion,  he  says :  “I  can  imagine  no  plan  which  is 
suited  to  carry  into  effect  so  many  divine  ideas  as 
this.  If  wisely  executed,  it  will  be  a  light  over  this 
country  and  this  age  ;  if  not  the  sunrise,  it  will  be 
the  morning  star.  *  *  *  I  shall  be  anxious  to 
hear  from  you.  Your  decision  will  do  much  towards 
settling  the  question,  with  me,  whether  the  time  has 
come  for  the  fulfillment  of  a  high  hope  or  whether 


the  work  belongs  to  a  future  generation.”  It  is  in¬ 
teresting  to  know  the  light  in  which  the  pradtical 
mind  of  Emerson  viewed  the  experiment.  He  says 
in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Ripley  :  “It  is  quite  time  I  made 
an  answer  to  your  proposition  that  I  should  venture 
into  your  new  community.  The  design  appears  to 
me  noble  and  generous,  proceeding,  as  I  plainly  see, 
from  nothing  covert,  or  selfish,  or  ambitious,  but 
from  a  manly  and  expanding  heart  and  mind,  so  it 
makes  all  men  its  friends  and  debtors.  *  *  *  I 

have  decided  not  to  join  it,  and  yet  very  slowly  and, 
1  may  almost  say,  with  penitence.  I  am  greatly  re¬ 
lieved  by  learning  that  your  coadjutors  are  now  so 
many  that  you  will  no  longer  attach  that  importance 
to  the  defect  of  individuals,  which  you  hinted  in  your 
letter  to  me,  I  or  others  might  possess — the  painful 
power,  I  mean,  of  preventing  the  execution  of  the 
plan.  My  feeling  is  that  the  community  is  not  good 
for  me,  that  it  has  little  to  offer  me  which,  with  reso¬ 
lution,  I  cannot  procure  for  myself ;  that  it  would  not 
be  worth  my  while  to  make  the  difficult  exchange  of 
my  property  in  Concord  for  a  share  in  the  new  house¬ 
hold.  *  *  *  It  seems  to  me  a  circuitous  and 

operose  way  of  relieving  myself  to  put  upon  your 
community  the  emancipation  which  I  ought  to  take 


i3 


on  myself.  I  must  assume  my  own  vows.  I  do  not 
think  I  should  gain  anything,  I  who  have  so  little 
skill  to  converse  with  people,  by  a  plan  of  so  many 
parts  and  which  I  comprehend  so  slowly  and 
bluntly.  I  do  not  look  upon  myself  as  a  valuable 
member  of  any  community  which  is  not  either  very 
large  or  very  small  and  seledl.  I  fear  that  yours 
would  not  find  me  as  profitable  and  pleasant  an  asso 
ciate  as  I  should  wish  to  be,  and  as  so  important  a 
projedl  seems  imperatively  to  require  in  all  its  con¬ 
stituents.”  In  regard  to  the  pecuniary  success  of  the 
farm,  he  says  he  read  Mr.  Ripley’s  letter  to  Mr.  Ed¬ 
mund  Hosmer,  a  very  intelligent  and  upright  man  in 
the  neighborhood,  who  admired  the  spirit  of  the 
plan,  “but  distrusted  all  I  told  him  of  the  details  as 
far  as  they  concerned  the  farm.  *  *  *  He 

thought  Mr.  Ripley  should  put  no  dependence  on 
the  results  of  ‘gentlemen  farmers’  such  as  some  he 
had  named.  If  his  (Mr.  Hostner’s  farm)  had  been 
managed  in  the  way  Brook  Farm  was  managed,  it 
would  have  put  himself  and  family  in  the  poor-house 
long  ago.”  An  article  in  the  Dial  (Margaret  Fuller, 
Jan.  1 8,  1842)  gives  a  very  clear  idea  of  the  aims  of 
the  Association  ;  “The  attempt  is  made  on  a  very 
small  scale.  A  few  individuals  who,  unknown  to  each 


14 


other,  under  different  disciplines  of  life,  readling 
from  different  social  evils,  but  aiming  at  the  same 
objedt — of  being  wholly  true  to  their  natures  as  men 
and  women — have  been  made  acquainted  with  one 
another  and  have  determined  to  become  the  faculty 
of  the  embroyo  university.  In  order  to  live  a  reli¬ 
gious  and  moral  life  worthy  the  name,  they  feel  it 
necessary  to  come  out  in  some  degree  from  the  world 
and  to  form  themselves  into  a  community  of  property 
so  far  as  to  exclude  competition  and  the  ordinary 
rules  of  trade,  while  they  reserve  sufficient  private 
property,  or  the  means  of  obtaining  it,  for  all  pur¬ 
poses  of  independence  and  isolation  at  will.  They 
have  bought  a  farm  in  order  to  make  agriculture  the 
basis  of  their  life,  it  being  the  most  diredl  and  sim¬ 
ple  in  relation  to  nature.  A  true  life,  while  it  aims 
beyond  the  highest  star,  is  still  redolent  of  the 
healthy  earth.  The  perfume  of  clover  lingers  about 
it.  The  lowing  of  cattle  is  the  natural  bass  to  the 
melody  of  human  voices.  *  *  *  All  labor, 
whether  bodily  or  intelledlual,  is  to  be  paid  at  the 
same  rate  of  wages  on  the  principle  that,  as  the  labor 
becomes  merely  bodily,  it  is  a  great  sacrifice  to  the 
individual  laborer  to  give  his  time  to  it.  *  *  * 
Another  reason  for  setting  the  same  pecuniary  value 


lS 


on  every  kind  of  labor  is  to  give  outward  expression 
to  the  great  truth  that  all  labor  is  sacred  when  done 
for  a  common  interest.  Saints  and  philosophers 
already  know  this,  but  the  childish  world  does  not. 

Nor  will  this  elevation  of  bodily  labor  be 
liable  to  lower  the  tone  of  manners  and  refinement. 
The  ‘children  of  light’  are  not  altogether  unwise  in 
their  generation.  They  have  an  invisible  but  all- 
powerful  guard  of  principles.  Minds  incapable  of 
refinement  will  not  be  attracted  into  this  Association. 
It  is  an  ideal  community,  and  only  to  the  ideally 
minded  will  it  be  attradlive,  but  these  are  to  be  found 
in  every  rank  of  life,  under  every  shadow  of  circum¬ 
stance.  Even  among  the  diggers  of  the  ditch  are  to 
be  found  some  who,  through  religious  cultivation, 
can  look  down  in  meek  superiority  upon  the  out¬ 
wardly  refined  and  book-learned.”  Emerson  says  : 
“The  founders  of  Brook  Farm  should  have  this 
praise,  that  they  made  what  all  people  try  to  make, 
an  agreeable  place  to  live  in.”  All  comers,  even  the 
most  fastidious,  found  it  the  pleasantest  of  residences. 
It  is  certain  that  freedom  from  household  routine, 
variety  of  character  and  talent,  variety  ot  work,  vari¬ 
ety  of  means  of  thought  and  instruction,  art,  music, 
poetry,  reading,  masquerade,  did  not  permit  sluggish- 


ness  or  despondency  ;  broke  up  routine.  There  is 
an  agreement  in  testimony  that  it  was  to  most  of  the 
associates  education  ;  to  many  the  most  important 
period  of  their  lives,  the  biith  of  valued  friendships, 
their  first  acquaintance  with  the  riches  of  conversa¬ 
tion,  their  training  in  behavior.  The  art  of  letter 
writing  was  immensely  cultivated,  it  is  said.  Letters 
were  not  only  flying  from  house  to  house,  but 
from  room  to  room.  It  was  a  perpetual  picnic,  a 
French  Revolution  in  small,  and  an  age  of  reason  in 
a  patty  pan.  “No  doubt  there  was  in  many  a  certain 
strength  drawn  from  the  fury  of  dissent.”  Thus  Mr. 
Ripley  told  Theodore  Parker,  “There  is  your  accom¬ 
plished  friend  ;  he  would  hoe  corn  all  day  Sunday,  it 
I  would  let  him,  but  all  Massachusetts  could  not  make 
him  do  it  on  Monday.” 

Hawthorne  was  with  them  a  year  at  the  first,  and 
was  quite  enthusiastic  for  a  time.  He  was  there  at 
the  beginning  of  1841,  and  his  notebooks  contain 
much  that  is  interesting.  But  Hawthorne’s  temper¬ 
ament  was  not  congenial  with  such  an  atmosphere, 
nor  was  his  faith  clear  or  steadfast  enough  to  rest 
contented  on  its  idea.  His,  however,  were  obser¬ 
vant  eyes,  and  his  notes  being  soliloquies — confes¬ 
sions  made  to  himself — convey  honest  impressions  : 


i7 


“Brook  Farm,  April  13,  1841.  I  have  not  yet 
taken  my  first  lessons  in  agriculture,  except  that  I 
went  to  see  our  cows  foddered  yesterday  afternoon. 
We  have  eight  cows  of  our  own.  There  is  a  most 
vicious  animal  in  the  yaid,  a  Transcendental  heifer, 
belonging  to  Margaret  Fuller.  She  tries  to  rule  every 
other  animal,  and  a  guard  has  to  be  placed  over  her 
while  the  other  animals  pass  in  and  out.  (Whether 
the  fa6t  that  the  creatuie  belonged  to  Miss  P'uller,  or 
that  it  was  a  Transcendental  animal,  caused  it  to  be 
so  undesirable  a  companion,  is  not  announced.)  I 
intend  to  convert  myself  into  a  milkmaid  this  eve¬ 
ning,  but  I  pray  heaven  that  Mr.  Ripley  may  assign 
me  the  kindliest  cows  in  the  herd,  otherwise  I  shall 
perform  my  duties  with  fear  and  trembling. 

“April  14.  I  did  not  milk  the  cows  last  night, 
either  because  Mr.  Kipley  was  afraid  to  trust  them 
to  my  hands  or  me  to  their  horns,  I  know  not 
which.  *  *  * 

“April  16.  I  have  milked  a  cow. 

“April  22.  I  read  no  newspapers  and  hardly  re¬ 
member  who  is  President,  and  feel  as  if  I  had  no 
more  concern  with  what  other  people  trouble  them¬ 
selves  about  than  if  I  had  lived  on  another  planet. 

“May  1.  All  the  morning  I  have  been  at  work 
under  the  blue  sky  on  a  hillside.  Sometimes  I  have 
felt  as  if  I  were  at  work  in  the  sky  itself,  though  the 
material  in  which  I  wrought  was  ore  from  our  gold 
mine  *  *  *  There  is  nothing  so  disagreeable 


1 8 


or  unseemly  in  this  sort  of  toil  as  you  think.  It  de¬ 
files  the  hands,  indeed,  but  not  the  soul.  *  *  * 

I  do  not  believe  that  I  should  be  so  patient  here  if  I 
were  not  engaged  in  a  righteous  and  heaven-blest 
way  of  life. 

“May  ii.  We  have  been  employed  partly  in  an 
augean  labor  of  cleaning  out  a  woodshed.  *  * 

These  jobs  are  not  at  all  suited  to  my  taste. 

“June  i.  I  think  this  present  life  of  mine  gives 
me  an  antipathy  to  pen  and  ink  even  more  than  my 
custom-house  experience  did.  In  the  midst  of  toil, 
or  after  a  hard  day’s  work,  my  soul  obstinately  re¬ 
fuses  to  be  burned  out  on  paper.  It  is  my  opinion 
that  a  man’s  soul  may  be  buried  and  perish  under  a 
dung  heap  just  as  well  as  under  a  pile  of  money. 

“Aug.  15.  Even  my  custom- house  experience 
was  not  such  a  thraldom  and  weariness  as  this.  Oh, 
labor  is  the  curse  of  the  world,  and  nobody  can  med¬ 
dle  with  it  without  becoming  proportionately 
brutified. 

“Salem,  Sept.  3.  Really,  I  should  judge  it  to  be 
twenty  )  ears  since  I  left  Brook  Farm,  and  I  take  this 
to  be  one  proof  that  my  life  there  was  an  unnatural 
and  unsuitable,  and,  therefore  unreal  one.  The  real 
me  was  never  an  associate  of  the  community.  There 
has  been  a  spedtral  appearance  there  sounding  the 
horn  at  daybreak  and  milking  the  cows  and  hoeing 
the  potatoes  and  raising  the  hay,  toiling  in  the  sun 
and  doing  me  the  honor  to  assume  my  name.  But 
the  spedlre  was  not  m)self.” 


*9 


“Hawthorne  was  elected  to  high  offices — to  those 
of  trustee  of  the  Brook  Farm  estate  and  chairman  of 
committee  of  finance, — but  he  told  Mr.  Ripley  that 
he  could  not  spend  another  winter  there.  * 

His  rather  sombre  view  must  be  accepted  as  the  im¬ 
pression  of  one  peculiar  mind.  In  his  ‘Blithedale 
Romance,’  Hawthorne  disclaimed  any  purpose  to 
describe  persons  or  events  at  Brook  Farm,  and  ex¬ 
pressed  a  hope  that  some  one  might  yet  do  justice  to 
a  movement  so  full  of  earnest  aspirations.  Miss 
Fuller  was  never  a  member,  though  going  there 
frequently,  and  sometimes  remaining  for  a  longer  or 
shorter  time,  and  always  in  strong  sympathy  with  the 
movement.  She  delighted  the  people  with  her  “con¬ 
versations,”  which  she  had  just  established  in  Boston. 
One  who  was  there  at  the  time  says,  “She  made 
plenty  of  money  with  her  talents,  which  money  she 
religiously  devoted,  as  she  had  promised  herself,  to 
the  education  of  her  brothers.”  A  lady  who  has 
written  some  very  interesting  articles  on  life  at  Brook 
Farm  says,  “Seldom  is  an  aspiration,  or  even  an  am¬ 
bition,  fulfilled  according  to  its  original  form  and 
dimensions,  because  of  the  ever  varying  changes  con¬ 
stantly  taking  place  on  the  surface  of  character,  if 
not  at  its  depths.  Having  earned  our  money  we 


20 


apply  for  our  loaf,  and  are  surprised,  it  is  not  un¬ 
likely,  at  the  shape,  at  the  color,  or  at  the  large  or 
smaller  proportion  of  it.  How  few  of  us  understand 
that  in  any  case  we  have  fully  our  money’s  worth.  I 
had  prayed  for  arithmetic  and  history,  and  the  com¬ 
panionship  of  my  equals,  and  I  had  found  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  unlimited  culture  and  a  company  ot  ad¬ 
vanced  thinkers,  large-hearted,  pure-minded,  religious 
and  cosmopolitan.  *  *  *  Work  had  its  own 

zest;  study  adorned  all  that  lay  below  it;  intimate 
friendships  filled  all  the  spaces  between.  If  the  loaf 
were  too  large,  of  necessity  I  could  not  appropriate 
the  whole.  I  did  indeed  seem  to  be  receiving  my 
own  with  compound  interest.  *  *  *  Democracy 

and  the  highest  mutual  and  spiritual  culture  were 
evidently  the  animating  ideas  at  Brook  Farm.  Had 
the  world  denied  you  opportunities  for  culture  here, 
your  souls  should  be  attended  to  at  once.  Did  you 
desire  chirography  or  Sanscrit,  it  was  all  one.  Hence 
in  the  course  of  time  there  were  classes  in  German, 
French  and  European  history,  in  Italian,  Greek,  and 
mathematics.  Two  Hibernian  sisters  were  learning 
to  read  and  write.” 

Though  not  many  were  blessed  with  the  talent  of 
the  above  writer  (Mrs.  Georgiana  Bruce  Kirby,  who 


has  written  a  very  interesting  book,  “Years  of  Exper¬ 
ience,”)  the  place  was  an  El  Dorado  to  many  who 
had  only  their  own  hands  to  help  them  to  an 
education. 

My  brother  was  an  enthusiastic  member  of  the 
association  from  1842  to  the  end,  and  an  indefatiga¬ 
ble  worker  in  season  and  out  of  season,  feeling  amply 
repaid  by  the  cause  for  which  he  was  laboring  and 
the  people  among  whom  he  labored.  I  remember 
seeing,  in  a  letter  written  to  him  a  year  or  two  after 
he  left  Brook  Farm  by  one  who  was  a  co-laborer 
with  him  there,  “I  hear  from  you  no  longer;  have 
you  gone  over  entirely  to  those  miserable  civilizees, 
and  forgotten  the  glorious  freedom  of  Brook  Farm?” 

I  was  a  pupil  there  in  the  summer  of  1843.  At 
first  all  who  were  members  or  pupils  were  expe6ted 
to  work  a  certain  number  of  hours  in  the  day,  but  as 
funds  were  very  much  needed,  and  there  seemed  no 
other  way  to  raise  them,  pupils  were  taken  as  at  other 
schools,  for  pecuniary  compensation.  George  Ripley 
was  teacher  for  intelle<5tual  and  moral  philosophy  and 
mathematics,  and  his  accomplished  wife — who,  I 
think,  was  said  at  that  time  to  be  the  most  learned 
woman  in  Boston,  than  which  no  greater  praise  could 
be  given  in  America — was  teacher  in  history  and 


22 


modern  languages ;  George  P.  Bradford  took  the  de¬ 
partment  of  belles  lettres ;  Charles  A.  Dana  had 
classes  in  Greek  and  German;  John  S.  Dwight  in 
Latin  and  music,  and  lesser  lights  in  other  branches. 
Many  were  glad  to  avail  themselves  of  opportunities 
thus  afforded  on  any  terms.  Probably  purer  people 
as  to  moral  status  or  as  many  highly  intelledlual  peo¬ 
ple  were  never  assembled  in  one  company.  But, 
though  all  worked,  it  was  the  workers  who  did  the 
work,  there  as  elsewhere,  while  the  theorizers  theo¬ 
rized  beautifully  and  gave  a  charm  to  the  common 
life.  I  would  not  imply  that  any  one  of  the  mem¬ 
bers  shirked  unpleasant  labor.  The  elegant  Mrs. 
Ripley  is  said  to  have  worked  ten  hours  in  the  day 
in  the  laundry  at  times,  but  what  I  would  imply  is 
that  a  skilled  laundress  might  have  done  the  same 
work  in  six  hours,  perhaps  better.  “She  worked  in 
the  laundry  until  the  necessity  of  economizing 
strength  compelled  her  to  resort  to  lighter  labor  in 
which  her  natural  elegance  and  refinement  of  judge¬ 
ment  were  required.”  Mr.  Ripley  never  shrank 
from  the  most  menial  work  about  the  barn.  “He 
liked  to  milk  cows,  saying  such  an  occupation  was 
eminently  favorable  to  contemplation,  particularly 
when  the  cow’s  tail  was  looped  up  behind.”  I  recall 


2  3 


the  figure  of  John  S.  Dwight  as  I  used  to  see  him  in 
his  tunic  (the  regulation  garment  of  the  masculine 
members  of  the  Association),  moving  among  us  in 
the  most  quiet  and  unostentatious  manner,  not  at  all 
as  if  he  knew  himself  the  bright  musical  light  of  the 
time,  as  he  was.  Some  one  says :  “This  winter 
brought  to  us  a  cordial  sympathizer  and  earnest 
laborer,  John  S.  Dwight,  and  with  him  all  sorts  of 
talk  about  the  meaning  and  use  of  music  and  much 
delicate  improvisation.  Soon  there  was  a  class  of 
little  ones  crowding  around  the  gentle,  genial  master, 
singing  from  the  first  Boston  School  Singing  Book 
(has  there  been  so  sweet  a  collection  since?)  and 
later  a  larger  class  who  attacked  the  glees  in  “Kings-  . 
ley’s  Choir,’  and  presented  Mozart’s  seventh  and 
twelfth  masses.  How  modestly  he  speaks  of  the 
mass  clubs  which  sprang  up  about  that  time,  not  only 
at  Brook  Farm  but  in  Boston,  and  of  the  writing  and 
lecturing  on  the  great  masters,  as  if  he  himself  had 
not  been  the  sole  instigator  and  unwearied  worker, 
assisted,  no  doubt  measurably,  by  the  articles  of  Miss 
Fuller.  First  it  was  necessary  to  create  a  larger 
want  for  something  better  than  the  Swiss  Bell  Ring¬ 
ers  and  mangled  psalmody ;  then  he  set  himself  to 
work  to  cause  to  be  assembled  the  talent  that  would 


24 


supply  while  it  increased  the  demand.  It  will  never 
be  known  by  what  studied  and  persistent  manipula¬ 
tion  a  sufficiently  large  public  was  brought  to  believe 
that  Beethoven’s  symphonies  and  Mozart’s  masses 
were  Divine  creations,  and  as  such  their  performance 
should  be  called  for  by  all  lovers  of  fine  music.” 
George  William  Curtis  and  his  ‘English  Oxford 
brother,’  Burrell,  were  notable  residents  at  that  time. 
Mr.  George  Curtis  showed  then  the  material  that 
was  in  him,  and  gave  promise  of  the  power  he  was  to 
wield  in  later  years,  and  the  stand  he  was  to  take  for 
humanity.  But  the  elder  brother  Burrell  had  a  look 
as  if  he  were  above  earth.  In  one  of  the  magazines 
of  a  few  years  ago  I  saw  an  article  in  which  it  was 
stated  that  an  artist  in  Europe  had  requested  him  to 
sit  for  a  head  of  Christ.  His  name  was  not  given, 
but  I  felt  sure  from  personal  recolledtion  ol  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  that  the  person  spoken  of  was  the  ‘Ox¬ 
ford’  brother  of  G.  W.  Curtis.  Charles  Dana  of  the 
New  York  Sun  was  one  of  the  adlive  and  enthusias¬ 
tic  members.  There  were  several  houses  :  the  Hive, 
where  we  took  our  meals,  and  where  all  work  per¬ 
taining  to  the  culinary  department  was  carried  on  ; 
Pilgrim  Hall  was  another  building,  sometimes  called 
the  Morton  House,  built  by  the  father  of  Mrs.  Diaz, 


25 


who  was  Abby  Morton  when  at  Brook  Farm.  But 
the  most  beautiful  for  situation  was  the  Eyrie,  built 
on  high  land  and  overlooking  the  Charles  river.  I 
was  so  fortunate  as  to  have  a  room  there,  and  in  the 
same  house  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ripley,  also  George 
W.  and  Burrell  Curtis. 

But  the  idyllic  phase  of  Brook  Farm  was  nearly 
ended.  Thus  far  there  had  been  no  organization. 
The  name  was  an  afterthought.  The  constitution 
was  not  written  till  the  experiment  was  several 
months  old.  The  principle  of  freedom  from  all  re¬ 
straints  but  these  of  reason  and  conscience  made  the 
managers  jealous  even  of  apparent  control.  The 
policy  of  non-intervention  was  carried  as  far  as  it 
could  be  without  incurring  the  risk  of  anarchy.  This 
was  not  unfitly  called  the  “Transcendental  period.” 
As  early  as  1843  the  wisdom  of  making  changes  in 
the  direction  of  scientific  arrangement  was  agitated  ; 
in  the  first  months  of  1844  the  reformation  was  ser¬ 
iously  begun.  There  was  an  enthusiastic  meeting 
held  at  Boston  in  behalf  of  Fourierism.  Brook  Farm 
was  represented,  and  Mr.  Ripley  made  an  earnest 
speech.  Albert  Brisbane  was  the  most  prominent  per¬ 
son  associated  with  Fourier  in  this  country.  He  was 
a  powerful  instrument  in  the  conversion  of  Brook 
Farm.  He  came  there  often,  at  first  for  a  few  days 
only,  but  afterwards  residing  several  months.  “He 
was  a  man  of  ability  and  enthusiasm,  an  intelle<5tual 


26 


vissionary.  In  the  mere  name  ‘phalanx’  he  seemed 
to  hear  the  trumpets  of  the  angels.  *  *  *  In 

April,  1844,  a  convention  of  Associationists  was  held 
at  New  York.  *  *  *  Burning  words  fell  as  if 

from  inspired  lips  ;  Channing,  Dana,  Greeley,  Godwin, 
each  in  characteristic  style  and  all  with  deep  sin¬ 
cerity,  poured  out  their  souls.”  In  March,  1845, 
the  Brook  Farm  ‘phalanx’  was  incorporated  by  the 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts.  “The  change  to  Four¬ 
ierism  made  essential  changes,  a  different  class  of 
people,  more  practical  and  prosaic  came  hither.  It 
freightened  away  idealists  whose  presence  had  given 
to  the  spot  its  chief  attraction,  and  injured  the  pas¬ 
toral  bloom  which  beautified  it.”  The  building  of 
the  Phalanstery,  that  all  might  be  under  one  roof, 
which  required  all  their  available  funds  or  more,  was 
the  next  thing  in  order.  This  was  much  disapproved 
of  at  the  time  by  people  who  sympathized  in  their 
aims  but  thought  the  method  impracticable.  When 
nearly  finished  the  building  took  fire.  This  was  on 
the  night  of  March  3,  1846.  In  the  unfinished  state 
of  the  building,  and  with  the  water  facilities  at  hand, 
it  was  impossible  to  save  it,  and  with  its  downfall 
burst  the  beautiful  bubble  lor  which  they  had  labored 
so  earnestly,  and  from  which  they  hoped  such  high 
fruition. 

“The  sternness  of  the  waking  does  not  destroy 
the  beauty  of  the  dream.  Brook  Farm  was  an  idyl, 
and  in  the  days  of  epics  the  idyl  is  easily  forgotten.” 


180211 


Date  Due 


PRESS  OF  W.  E.  SMITH,  MASONIC  BUILDING. 

Marlborough,  Mass. 

1898. 


